ENG-1990 — Page 341

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fleet of 13 aircraft: two twin-engined Beech Super King Airs, a Britten-Norman Islander, four Slingsby Firefly trainers and six Sikorsky helicopters which replaced the Dauphin twin-engined helicopters. With an establishment of 160 permanent staff and 195 volunteers comprising aircrew, engineers and administrative staff, the RHKAAF can operate round- the-clock for seven days a week during an emergency. Over 3 000 hours have been flown during the year.

In 1990, the RHKAAF responded to 225 requests for emergency medical evacuation and rescues. Some of these came from the local fleet of about 5 000 fishing boats, many of which now have high-frequency radios enabling them to call for assistance when necessary. A total of 109 search and rescue operations were carried out, involving helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. During the dry season, the helicopters assisted in over 61 fire-fighting operations and dropped over 1 320 tonnes of water on bush and forest fires in areas inaccessible to conventional fire-fighting appliances.

The Police Force and the Correctional Services made frequent use of helicopters for training and operational purposes. Helicopter flights were routinely provided to transport engineering staff to hilltops to carry out maintenance and repair work at communications repeater stations. During the year, about 6 790 government officers were flown to various areas in the course of their duties. Flying services were also provided to give official overseas visitors an overview of the territory.

The Super King Airs maintained regular offshore patrols in connection with anti-illegal immigration operations and were also heavily employed in support of the Buildings and Lands Department's continuing need for aerial surveys, photography and map-making. The Fireflys and Islander provided pilot training for the squadron's cadet pilots.

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